With the release of his new crime fiction series, we speak to Scottish author JD Kirk, real name Barry Hutchinson, about his latest novel The One That Got Away.
Born and raised in Fort William, Barry wanted to be a writer from the age of nine, and wrote more than 140 children’s books before taking up crime writing.
When a fifteen-year-old girl fails to make it home after school, DI Heather Filson believes she’s dealing with just another teenage runaway.
The girl’s grandfather, a notorious Glasgow gangster, disagrees. Convinced one of his underworld enemies has grabbed her, he’s prepared to bathe the city in blood in order to bring his princess home. But, as the days pass and the evidence mounts, Heather starts to fear that they’re both wrong, and that a brutal killer from the past has returned.
A killer who once stalked the streets of her hometown, preying on vulnerable young victims. A killer that DI Heather Filson is uniquely familiar with…
What is the story behind The One That Got Away?
It starts as a story about a teenager going missing on her way home from school. The police think she’s run away, but her grandfather—a notorious Glasgow gangster—thinks one of his underworld enemies have taken her.
The reality is much, much worse, and as DI Heather Filson investigates, she begins to suspect that the girl’s abduction is connected to a serial killer case from thirty years previously. A case which she has a deep, personal connection to.
Where did the idea/inspiration for the series come from?
This book was very much ‘character first’. I’d created the character of Heather Filson for the DCI Logan series, where she made a couple of appearances. She was quite an unpopular character because of some of the things she did and how she acted, and yet I knew that, deep down, she was a good person.
I became more and more interested in what made her behave the way she did, and why her personality was as abrasive as it was. So, I thought I’d dig around in her backstory to find out the events that had shaped her, and that’s what led to the plot of The One That Got Away.
Are you excited about readers meeting Heather Filson?
Excited and terrified. She was resoundingly unpopular in the Logan books, which was part of what attracted me to give her her own series, to see if I could sort of redeem her in the eyes of my readers. Fortunately, most people seem to be enjoying seeing a different side to her character, and I’ve been able to convert quite a large percentage of Heather Haters into die hard Filson Fans!
What is she like?
That would very much depend on who you asked. Most people would see her as sarcastic, aggressive, and largely unpleasant. And they’d correct. But, she’s also loyal, funny, and has a strong sense of right and wrong. She cares about people far more than she lets on, and you see a bit of that starting to come through in her relationships with some of the other characters in the book.
How long did it take you to write the book?
About a year to convince myself it was a good idea, then about a month to write it. I’d been planning it out in my head in the background for most of that year, though, so I was ready to hit the ground running from day one.
Tell us a bit about what the series has in store?
Without giving too many spoilers, a lot of the relationships and storylines established in book one will continue to develop over the course of the series. Each book in the series is a standalone mystery with a different crime at the heart of it, but a couple of wider mysteries will play out over the course of a few books, and we’ll really get to see what makes Heather tick.
Have you started on the others yet?
I’ve been working on the next two DCI Logan books, the second of which links into Heather’s next story. Once I’ve finished that, I’ll be throwing Heather into the deep end again with another case for her to solve.
To find out more visit – www.jdkirk.com
Read more news and reviews on Scottish Field’s book pages.
Plus, don’t miss the July issue of Scottish Field magazine.
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